


Ethan's Confusing Journey To Finally Getting Some Friends

by ILoveWater



Category: Zeroes Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Funny, Gen, I only read the first book, Origin Story, Pre-Canon, many references to story, poor Thibault
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-14 19:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13597032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILoveWater/pseuds/ILoveWater
Summary: Ethan is just a perfectly normal and innocent boy who happens to abuse his magical power sometimes. A lot. This is the day he realizes he's not the only special one.





	Ethan's Confusing Journey To Finally Getting Some Friends

**Author's Note:**

> I only read the first book so I don't know if they actually write the origin story or anything for how any of them joined. This is just something I thought up and thought was funny from the few hints we get in the first book. So yeah this was just a cool idea~

Ethan walked out of his house and onto the lawn. It was the middle of July, well into summer vacation, and he was bored. He had fed his mom some excuse for going outside and no longer remembered what he said. It was what typically happened when he used the voice to get what he wanted. 

She had said something about it being too hot outside, wearing sunscreen, but Ethan waved the thought away. He could live through a few sun burns.

He strutted off to the left in the direction of the main roads, to the traffic jams and high office towers. It would take at least 20 minutes to reach his destination, but he wasn't in a hurry. His targets so far were food stands, and he knew exactly where to find them.

The number of people on the sidewalk slowly increased until he finally passed the bank, and from then on he was constantly surrounded by the sound of cars and footsteps.

He finally happened upon his first victim, A poor teen working the hotdog stand. Ethan went to stand behind-

That was weird, he could have sworn there was someone there in front of him. It must have been his nerves acting up.

“Hey, Neron, Boris sent me over. He’s cashing in on that free hotdog you promised him,” Ethan heard his voice slither out, smooth and confident.

“For real? I was hoping he’d forget! Here, tell him he gets no toppings for being such a sore loser.” The boy handed him the hotdog. “Hey, I don’t recognize you. Who are you to Boris?”

“New employee. I’m stuck with washroom duty,” the voice replied. Ethan nodded at Neron and went off on his merry way.

“Well that was too easy,” he said to himself, taking a bite out of his hotdog. It went so smoothly that it inflated his ego to at least the size of the moon.

It just so happened that Ethan was born with this superpower, a mysterious ‘voice’ that manipulated people into doing what Ethan wanted, and knew things even he didn’t know. It seemed like it had its own mind, except it only did what Ethan wanted, if not always in the _way_ he wanted.

Ethan was ready for his next target.

He took the scenic route to the park, where he knew a burger truck would be opening later.

He finished his hotdog as he walked into the park, taking a seat on the bench. He threw chunks of the leftover bun to the pigeons, watching them run around.

“So you _can_ work with crowds.” Ethan snaps his head around to hear laughter. He scanned the trees and pavement, but only found a little girl playing with a ball, too far to have been the person he heard.

Ethan started walking towards the burger truck, deciding what he wanted ahead of time. There was a short line before the window of the truck, about three people. He could feel someone else get in line behind him, and he sighed quietly as their shadow blocked the sun’s heat.

He slowly made his way to the front of the line, greeting the vendor. He was about to let loose his voice onto the bearded man, when the man slowly frowned down on him.

“Hey, I recognize you! Sheila said she don’t know you, what’s up with that? You lyin’ to me? You know I gave you three damn burgers! They’re six dollars each, and Sheila ain’t said nothin ‘bout paying. You’re already here, so pay up.” Ethan’s head was still turning from all the new information. _Sheila? Who the hell is Sheila? And three burgers, do I really go here that much?_

_Oh, wait._

_This is that damn Wednesday worker! What the hell is he doing here on a Sunday?! Damn it, I remember now! My story with him was that Sheila owed me money, I gave her dope or something. I guess she was an addict since he believed me. Maybe I should stop messing with people's personal lives._

_Ya, I don't think that's happening anytime soon._

Focusing back on the current situation, Ethan put his hand in his pocket, pretending to look for his wallet. Of course he didn't actually bring it, he wasn't expecting to use it, and it would been bad if he had to lie about his name. Ethan learned that the hard way when a security guard had found him trespassing on private property. He lied about working there, the voice listing off some name. The guard ended up searching him anyway and found his driver’s license. Ethan’s mom had had to collect him from the police station after that.

Ethan looked up with a fake frown on his face, about to use the voice to escape from the vendor. He then abruptly noticed that the vendor's attention was entirely on the next customer. The man was already taking his order, and Ethan barely noticed someone in front of him, slowly pushing him back. He didn't understand it, but it was like his eyes didn't want to stick to the person in front of him, like they weren't worth taking up his meagre attention span.

“Hey.” Suddenly the boy’s form steadied in front of Ethan, and it was easier to keep his eyes on him. The boy in question was leaning against a tree, his mouth set in a thin line and his blue eyes staring at Ethan warily. “Congratulations. You just got saved from an 18 dollar debt. A thank you will do.” He crossed his arms against his chest and waited silently for Ethan's response.

“Who the hell are you?!” he yelled after a few seconds of bewilderment. “Why should I thank you? I could have gotten out of that.” Ethan may have sounded confident, but he was faltering on the inside. _What would have happened if the voice went silent again? He could have called my mom…_

It just so happened that Ethan’s voice wasn’t an all-powerful being, and when it couldn’t do what Ethan wanted he was left with an awkward silence. For all he knew, this black-haired boy really did save him.

“Just listen, I’m going to say this once and then you’ll forget. You’re not alone. I know you have some weird power that makes you know things you shouldn’t. I have one too. The reason you didn’t notice me was because I have invisibility.” The boy’s face revealed nothing as he spoke, and by the end Ethan had an epiphany. He gawked, his eyes bugging out of his head. Ethan was fumbling with his words until the boy broke into a fit of laughter.

“I’m kidding, you should have seen your face! It’s not as flashy as invisibility, I’m just very… forgettable,” he trailed off darkly towards the end. His jaw clenched and his hands tightened against his arms, but Ethan didn’t notice. The boy ran his hand through his hair, then quietly sighed. He extended his hand toward Ethan. “I’m Thibault, don’t bother trying to pronounce it. There are a few others like us, with powers and all that. There’s this kid, Nate, he wants to get us all together. Do you have a phone?” Ethan tried to get his tongue around the name.

“Tibo? Tebo. Teebo. Tibow? Teebo?-”

“Damn that snotty rich kid.” Thibault groaned. “Fine. Teebo, whatever. It won’t matter soon anyway. Just give me your phone.” He held his arm out, glaring at Ethan pointedly.

Ethan fished around for his phone in his pocket, begrudgingly handing it over. It wasn’t everyday you met someone who said they had a superpower, not to mention know about yours.

“Wait, who’s Nate? Other people with superpowers? Does Nate have powers? What powers does he have? Why do you need my phone? Is Nate actually rich?” The questions tumbled out, and Thibault’s lack of details only further fueled his curiosity.

Thibault rolled his eyes, typing something out on the other boy’s phone. “I already told you, Nate’s a snotty rich kid. Yes, there are others. Nate does have powers, he’s like the opposite of me, so I guess an attention hog. I’m entering my number into your contacts and the address into your notes, so I guess you can judge Nate’s wealth once you get to the meeting, it’s at his house. You’ll know you’re there once you reach the sparkliest mansion on the street. I swear it’s like they have a contest for whoever has the flashiest house.”

“Ugh, ye… okay.” Ethan’s mind was reeling with all the information he was suddenly supposed to process. If he was in the right state of mind he probably would have just let his voice do all the talking. At the moment though, he found himself holding his phone and waving stupidly as Thibault walked off.

Ethan suddenly glanced around, wondering who he was waving at. He found his phone sitting idly in his hand, a Note on the screen that he didn’t remember making.

“Important. There are other kids with superpowers. Meet at 23 Imrich Boulevard at 7 pm for more info. If you’re later than 7:10 Nate will be mad.” He read. “There are other people with powers? Awesome!”

He checked the time in the corner of his phone seeing he still had an hour and a half before seven rolled around. He made his way to the nearest cafe, using the wifi to pull up his GPS and finding the best route to the address. His plan was to walk around until 6:40, at which point he’d swindle someone into giving him a ride.

He ended up chatting with some red-haired kid for a bit, having no idea what he was talking about. He was riding back seat, letting the voice steer the conversation. All he wanted was to distract himself, get the girl to trust him, and when the time came, get a free ride.

“So do you like to watch Jommy Proton? His dog Goddard is so cute!”

“Oh ya, for sure! I just love the episode when- Wait, you still watch Jommy Proton? That kid’s head is _messed up!_ You do realize a lot of what he does to Goddard can be considered animal cruelty, right?” He interrupted his voice. His eyes suddenly widened when he realized what he just did. _It’s not my fault I was cooped up inside the house because of my mom, causing me to watch hours of TV on end, but I just really messed up._

The girl herself was in shock, her jaw hanging open. “Oh, did you hear that? My friend’s calling me, gotta go!” She said, running off, even as there was clearly no one calling. _At least she tried to be polite…_

Ethan took out his phone, ready to distract himself with some random game he downloaded, when he saw the time on his phone. _Hell! That chick was my ride!_

The screen read 6:42, and Ethan was nowhere close to the meeting place. He started pacing around, clutching his hair in his fist. _What the hell am I going to do?!_

“Hey.” Ethan jumped at the voice, landing on the rough cement. The blue-eyed stranger held out his hand. “You want some help, Ethan?”’

“H-how do you know my name? Leave me alone!” Ethan crawled back a bit before standing up. An idea popped into his head. _Wait, I can use this dude as my ride!_

“I mean hey, Thibault! Long time no see! Are we going over to Nate’s place or what?” Thibault looked at Ethan quizzically as the voice slid out of Ethan’s throat.

“Listen, I don’t have a ride. Do you mind driving me?” The voice asked. Ethan wasn’t even paying attention to the words coming out of his mouth, he just wanted to get to the address.

“How do you even remember my name, let alone that I’m connected to Nate?” The other boy seemed confused at Ethan’s words. “Either way, that doesn’t matter. I don’t have a car since I can’t get a driver’s license. I’ll just call Nate to let him know.” Thibault took out his phone and started talking into it. Ethan waited patiently, contemplating how lucky he was to have found exactly who could help him. _Wait, does that mean he has superpowers?_

“Hey, wait a second! You know Nate, do you have superpowers too?” Ethan looked at him in awe.

“What do you mean? Don’t you remember? You literally just said my name as if you remembered me. Was that your power working?” Thibault asked.

“Oh, umm, no, actually. I don’t remember you. I guess you could say that was my power. Teebo, was it?” Thibault seemed quite annoyed with Ethan at the moment.

“My power is that it’s easy to forget me. Now that we have that out of the way, we need to get on the 51. The bus is the fastest way, and the only way you’re getting there on time is with me. Hold onto my arm or you’ll forget where to go,” he took hold of Ethan’s arm and dragged him to the bus stop, seating him down in the chair. In a few minutes they were on the bus and were in the middle of looking for seats. Ethan, being the airhead he was, immediately let go of Thibault to tell him his amazing idea.

“We should split up, there aren’t enough se- Hey? Dude, where’d you go?” Ethan tried to navigate his way around the passenger’s, trying to find the boy. Suddenly, he realized he didn’t remember paying for his ticket. “Hey, did I hitchhike onto this bus? I don’t even remember where I’m going, I need get off before they catch me!” he whispered to himself. He made his way to the back doors of the bus, only to be pulled back as they opened.

“What the hell are you doing? Didn’t you hear me tell you to stay with me? You’re really bad at following instructions. Nate is going to have a _swell_ time with you.” Ethan just stared at Thibault in shock for the next few minutes, slowly trying to identify the strange boy.

“Wait, aren’t you that weird dude who took me on this bus?” he finally asked. Thibault looked like he was going to slap Ethan.

“Just shut up. I’m not letting go of your hand until we get to Nate’s.”

“Nate? That’s the super guy in my note! Sweet!” The two of them ended up standing on the bus, one of Thibault’s hand on a handle and the other holding Ethan’s arm.

They exited the bus and, slowly but surely, Thibault dragged Ethan from the bus stop to Nate’s house.

“Woah! This dude really is filthy rich, and his house really does sparkle!” Ethan muttered under his breath. Little did he know Thibault had glanced toward him, a pleasantly perplexed expression on his face.

Before Thibault could give himself any more time to contemplate his thoughts, he entered the numbers into the keypad.

“Hey, you’re here! Come in, we’re ready to start the meeting. Riley is already here,” they heard the voice come in through the speaker. The gates creaked open and the two entered the house. Thibault led Ethan to a strange room, like a movie theater auditorium, but smaller and fancier. There were two kids sitting in the front row. The brown-haired boy turned around, flashing a smile.

“Glad you could make it! Come on, let’s sit down. We can all introduce ourselves.” Suddenly it felt like everyone’s eyes were focused on Ethan. He felt strangely comfortable and at ease with these strangers, contrasting greatly to the distrust he felt moments ago.

“Umm… Alright, I guess. My name’s Ethan. You all have superpowers, right? Uh, mine is this weird voice I have. I can use it to get what I want. Ya.” He shuffled slightly in his seat, his nervousness still pressing him even with the warm atmosphere.

“I guess I’ll go next then, before anyone forgets me. I’m Thibault, and none of you are going to remember that. People don’t like to pay attention to me. That’s my power.” There was a prominent silence following his introduction.

“When did _you_ get here?”


End file.
